Can we get some “chips” with that salsa?

The last two weeks have been spicy. AI companies are branching out to build the infrastructure needed to run their models. On the other hand, technology companies are being forced to make platform design changes by court decisions. The tech industry is sounding the alarm about the possibility of increased AI-enabled cyber attacks. 

Here’s four tech developments to close out August:

1) OpenAI’s first AI chip, Jalapeño, created with the help of AI was recently put to the test. According to the company, it completes tasks more efficiently and returns responses faster than other AI systems. Although the company is looking to provide its own computing power through this investment, they also noted that due to demand they will continue using other computing sources available from other companies. 

2) This month, a federal appeals court ruled that more than 3,000 social media addiction lawsuits can move forward against Meta, Google, TikTok, and other social media companies.  Lawsuits have been filed by states, municipalities, school districts, and individuals. The ruling also cleared the way for the landmark child safety case against Meta from over 40 states to play out in court. After eight days, parties agreed to settle the case, with Meta agreeing to pay up to $17 billion in penalties to the states over 10 years and to make platform design changes focused on children safety. For example, Colorado will receive about $615 million over nine years. In response to the settlement, Meta has called on other leading technology companies to follow suit with changing the design of their digital products based on the agreement made with Attorneys General across the U.S. 

3) On the international and national level, young people are coming together to discuss today’s pressing topics, including AI. In July, the NextGen Roundtable brought together over 400 first time voters, aged 18-20 for four days in DC to deliberate on three core themes including, AI and Society. A report from the convening will be released next month. This month, more than 600 young people presented a youth-led Declaration on AI Policy and Governance at the United Nations headquarters. This input will be used to inform global AI governance, including the Global Digital Compact. 

4) And most recently, late this week over 150 companies signed onto a letter calling for collective action on cyber defense. The letter warns that there is a limited window to strengthen cyber defenses because of advancing AI capabilities and calls on cybersecurity companies, technology companies, governments, frontier AI companies, and every organization to take action. 

Other State Policy Action

CA: A bill (SB 1159) focused on protecting AI from overwhelming government transparency processes, like prohibiting AI systems from requesting government documents through Public Records Act, is awaiting the Governor’s signature. 

Last week, the Governor signed a bill (AB 1651) that requires the State Bar to disclose the use of AI in administering attorney’s licensure exams and study materials. 

This week, the Governor signed a bill (SB 928) to prevent instructional and non-instructional faculty employees at the California State University from being replaced by AI.

NJ: Earlier this month, the Governor signed the (A 4015) “New Jersey Kids Code.” The new law will go into effect in 2027, focusing on online children privacy and platform design requirements for minor users.

Tech Policy & Governance Jobs

Do you have leads, tips, corrections, feedback or resources you would like to share? Send your advice to [email protected].

Disclosure: This is a human-written and driven publication. As a small business owner and mighty team of 1, I use AI tools to optimize my small business operations as a part of my admin tech stack. Regarding this publication, AI is mainly used to help with catchy titles, as a thesaurus when writing and a partner when creating cartoons. (Thanks, Canva, and not an ad!) As a secret doodler, I add my human touch using my digital pad and pen. I also use Grammarly, with AI built in, to help with copy editing/grammar check (again, mighty team of one!) Thanks for reading. 😊

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